A POPULAR newsagent gunned down in his shop was a father-of-11 who worked 100 hours a week to support his family back in Yemen.

A POPULAR newsagent gunned down in his shop was a father-of-11 who worked 100 hours a week to support his family back in Yemen.

Abdo Sa’eed al-Selwi, 47, of Kensington, was shot dead in Huyton at 7.30am on Saturday.

Mr Al-Selwi was found bleeding heavily, but still alive, behind the counter by a customer who had come in for his morning newspaper.

Paramedics rushed to the scene but his injuries – a single gunshot wound to the chest – proved fatal.

Liverpool’s Yemeni community is tomorrow expected to pay tribute to Mr Al-Selwi when up to 400 Yemeni-run shops will close for several hours as a mark of respect.

Mr Al-Selwi made Liverpool his home in 1997. He had one teenage son with him in England.

But his wife and 10 other children, aged between one and 19-years-old, live in his native land.

Initially, he lived in a flat above the Page Moss parade shop.

But he recently moved to Kensington to live with his cousin and fellow shopkeeper Fwad Al-Selwi.

Fighting back tears Mr Al-Selwi, 34, said: “Abdo was such a lovely and cheerful man.

“It was rare to see him without a smile on his face. He loved life and loved his work. He worked hard every single day of the week for his family.

“A few months ago he became the target of some local yobs. They had threatened him with knives and tried to steal from him. He chased them away with a baseball bat.

“He was a very proud man and was not going to be intimidated by thieves.

“He was growing more like a brother to me.

“He had such a generous spirit. He would give away sweets to local kids just to put a smile on their faces.

“The evil criminal responsible for this has stolen not just one, but 10 lives.”

Mr Al-Selwi had been subletting Carol’s newsagents for less than a year.

He worked from 6.30am to 8pm seven days a week running the shop.

It is believed he recently installed CCTV after coming under attacks from local yobs.

Community development manager for the Liverpool Arabic Centre Najib Al-Hakimi said: “He was a caring and hard working family man. The Yemeni community is still in shock and we are all wondering what the motive behind this brutal action is.

“Mr Al-Selwi worked around the clock providing a service to the community with his business.

“He was having problems with gangs in the area and had some bad experiences but it seems he was suffering in silence.

“He was very well known and well respected in our community. He will be missed.”

Detectives said a bungled robbery seemed unlikely to be the motive behind the murder as nothing appeared to have been stolen.

They are not ruling out suggestions that it was a racist attack.

Det Supt Paul Richardson said: “At this early stage we cannot rule anything in or out.

“But we do not believe there is a racial element to this murder.

“There are several possible motives we are looking at.”

Police were today scouring CCTV footage.

They have identified 13 people seen near the newsagents between 7am and 7.30am and want to speak to those potential witnesses.

They believe the gunman was white, aged 25 to 35, of medium build and with dark hair.

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